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Pour your garden harvest into a glass to make creative smoothies

Blackberries, like these growing wild on a farm near Langley, Wash., are especially popular for adding beautiful colours and enriching flavours to blended drinks. Follow the harvest and work with whatever is ripening to flavor your nutrient-rich smoothies. Photo: AP Photo/Dean Fosdick

Smoothies are a nutritious way to stir things up in the kitchen, especially if the ingredients come from your garden.

Few drinks are as refreshing as fresh or frozen fruits and syrups mixed with milk and yogurt. Many people also add greens.

“Follow the harvest and work with whatever is ripening,” said Nan Chase, who with DeNeice Guest wrote the new “Drink the Harvest” (Storey Publishing). “We get into canning. The starting point is with the juices.”

Smoothies are easy to make. All that’s required is a blender, some liquid (milk, juices or water), ice cubes (or ice cream), yogurt, fruits and greens.

Strawberries, blueberries, peaches and blackberries are great smoothie ingredients because they have a long shelf life when preserved, Chase said.

“We can use them any time of year,” she said. “Syrups are a big component of what you can do with the juices.”

You gain a lot from a little when blending syrups into smoothies, Chase said. “We find that you get a significant amount of concentrated flavour and you don’t need an 8-ounce glass. Just a quarter cup can provide the necessary (daily) nutrient load for fruit.'”

To make green smoothies for variety, nutrition and flavour’s sake, include many herbs along with leafy green vegetables including kale, spinach, collard greens and Swiss chard, like this assortment at the Bayview Farmer’s Market near Langley, Wash. They can be blended with fresh or frozen fruit and syrups to enrich the taste.

Some suggestions from Colorado State University Extension for enhancing the flavour and nutritional punch of smoothies: